Dark 48 Issue 1

Written by Steven O’Connell

Pencilled by Daniel Indro

Inked by Joel Seguin

The US is gone. A viral release has driven men mad, turning them into roaming gangs of ‘Crazies’ that have devastated the country. Now, Battle Corp Delta, an all female commando unit have been tasked with making their way through the US, in the hopes of finding a cure. And it’s not going well…

Created by the writer of , this is a pleasant twist on the standard zombie apocalypse plot line. Delta have vast resources, a clear idea of what they have to do and, at the same time, are clearly completely outnumbered and, increasingly, broken down by what they have to do. They’ve already lost members as the series opens, tensions are running high and the entire team are looking for ways to cope. One, Ruffian, writes letters to her mother whilst others console themselves with alcohol or rescuing survivors or revelling in killing the Crazies.

What works here, aside from Indro’s nicely realised, just this side of the future designs and artwork is the character interaction. The all female team are a nice touch and their personalities (With the exception of some distinctly clunky turns of phrase from the English team member) are unique and likable and the human cost of their job is something which will make fans of Max Brooks’ superb World War Z will find welcome and familiar.

With just a two issue run, this is a short, punchy series that works like the female commandos it follows; hitting hard and fast and getting out with the job done clean, well and professionally. A very pleasant surprise.